MEET Fatou, The First Senegalese K-pop Idol to Debut Through Upcoming Re-Brand Group BLACK SWAN

As K-pop music is not only limited to Koreans anymore and is becoming mainstream as the years pass by, several non-Korean K-pop idols are also dominating the music industry. Various idols coming from different Asian countries including Thai BLACKPINK member Lisa, TWICE Japanese-line Sana, Momo, and Mina, etc., are actually building their names and becoming Korean’s favorite despite differences in culture.

However, is K-pop and the world, ready for another Black K-pop idol?

On an online Korean community site, K-Netz and K-pop fans shared a variety of opinions and views regarding the first-ever Senegalese idol who is about to debut under DR Entertainment and the second Black K-pop idol who will enter the music scene.

In the second half of 2020,  reports claim that the agency is planning to launch a K-pop group, which is a rebranded version of RaNia. BLACK  SWAN is a five-membered group consisting of Youngheun, Hyeme, Leia, Judy, and Fatou.

As soon as the announcement was made, Korean netizens expressed their sentiments about Fatou. In particular, there are several K-pop fans expressed that the revamped group will not work out, as long as racism still exists.

In addition to this, Alex, who is the first-ever black K-pop idol and former member of RaNia, left the group after some time, and netizens discussed that racism and discrimination could be some of the factors why she withdrew from the band.

However, in the past weeks, Fatou is getting favorable feedback from K-netizens and is catching the interest of K-pop enthusiasts, a good sign that they will have a good start.

Fatou Samba, who is also known as Fatou (Patoo) is a 95-liner soon-to-debut idol who was born in Yoff, Senegal. According to her profile, she lived in Belgium and New York for a while, before flying to Korea.

During her pre-debut days, she’s a model for Cineline Entertainment, before she decided to become a trainee. She’s also a multilingual artist, who can speak five languages, including English, Korean, French, German, and Dutch.

In addition to this, Fatou was revealed as the fourth member of BLACK SWAN on July and is introduced to be the main rapper, main dancer, and vocalist of the group.

Meanwhile, when Fatou’s photos circulated online, the majority of Korean netizens were amazed by her beauty and visuals.

Some of the comments are, “She’s so cute,” “She looks like an American Pop Star,” etc. People are also expressing how they are already interested in her story, how she came to Korea, how she was scouted and eventually became a trainee, and what pushes her to become a Korean idol.

A fan even said, “She’s really stunning! I can’t wait to see them on stage already!”

Moreover, Fatou is gaining praise for her rapping skills, as she recently showcased a snippet of her practices through her IG stories.

On the other hand, despite good comments about her skills and talents, international fans are still worried that she might get bullied in the music industry in some ways. The stigma of being a non-Korean K-pop idol is still present; but nevertheless, supporters of BLACK SWAN are affirming that they will give their all-out support for Fatou and to the other members.

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